Chavez hopes for support as A's wrap set with Yankees

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Oakland Athletics will try to avoid spoiling another solid showing by Jesse Chavez as they host the New York Yankees in the fourth stanza of a four-game set at O.co Coliseum.

Chavez owns a 1-5 record despite his solid 2.44 ERA due to an atrociously low run support average provided by the Athletics' offense. His 1.05 run-support average is the lowest among any pitcher in the majors and is less than half of Jake Odorizzi's 2.17 mark for Tampa Bay, which is the second worst in the MLB.

Chavez suffered a 1-0 loss to Detroit in his last outing despite allowing only one unearned run over eight innings. Oakland went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 10 stranded in the loss.

Oakland's offense struggled down the stretch in Saturday's 5-3 loss to New York. Carlos Beltran drove in three runs and hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning.

Josh Reddick paced Oakland's offense by going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Although the A's finished 12-of-37, they failed to record any extra-base hits or walks in the loss.

Beltran has 28 hits this month -- including all four of his home runs -- after batting .162 in April.

"It's great. At the end of the day, it's about wins," Beltran said. "It feels good every time we're capable of helping the team to win a ballgame. Today was a good day for me, at the same time it was a good day for the ball club. We needed this one. Tomorrow we have a chance to leave this place with an even series."

To leave Oakland with the series tied at two wins apiece, New York will need Adam Warren to continue thriving. Warren surrendered only one run over 6 1/3 innings of work on Tuesday. He has lasted at least 6 1/3 innings in each of his last three starts.

"I feel like I'm getting more comfortable in this role," Warren said. "I feel like I'm starting to get on a roll a bit, and I'm starting to get more confidence out there and I feel like I can get deeper in games."

Stephen Vogt, who is leading Oakland in batting average at .322, is hitting only .143 in seven career at-bats versus Warren.

New York's Alex Rodriguez enters Saturday's matchup tied with Barry Bonds for second place on the all-time RBI list with 1,996. Rodriguez is 0-for-1 against Chavez coming in Sunday.